Selfies, Maps and a Prince Philip cult: Cool new stuff from our Selectors

Tigers forever: Saving the world’s most endangered big cat by Steve Winter
This book showcases a decade of beautiful photographs and stories of tigers in the wild.  Alongside the spectacular photography by Steve Winter, and award winning National Geographic photographer are the stories of the committed people from all around the world who dedicate their lives to saving the tiger from extinction

My first Animalia by Graeme Base
Animalia was first published in 1986, immediately capturing the imagination of children and adults around the world.  My First Animalia celebrates the magic of Animalia in a playful introductory format for the very young, but will appeal to all ages!

Go : a Kidd’s guide to graphic design by Chip Kidd
The author is an award winning graphic designer who has created a kid friendly (and adult friendly too) book on how to get your design ideas across to the world, showing how to make design dynamic and interesting. The back of the book contains 10 suggested projects to get started and these can then be posted to gothebook.com

Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska
This collection of 52 highly illustrated maps details not only geographical features and political borders, but also places of interest, iconic personalities, native animals and plants, local peoples, cultural events, and many more fascinating facts associated with each region. Check examples of the maps – they really are quirky and very interesting.  The New Zealand map has lots of well known icons, but nothing for Christchurch.  What is our global icon now?

Selfies: Self -portrait photography with attitude by Jan-Haje Kamps
Apparently the Selfie is more than just pointing the camera at yourself and making a duckface. “Selfie” was added to the online version of the Oxford dictionary in August and is being considered for future inclusion in the more traditional Oxford English Dictionary so it must be here to stay!  This book might be the answer to those endless rather banal images that clutter Facebook, or perhaps Kim Kardashian (the expert in self promotion) can also set you on the right path?

Man belong Mrs Queen : adventures with the Philip worshippers / Baylis, Matthew.
This has to one of the months more unusual books as it is about a Prince Philip- loving cult (Yes you did read this right – the Prince Philip of the dreadful gaffes) that exists on the South Sea Island of Tanna.

On the rumbling slopes of this remarkable volcanic island, banjaxed by daily doses of the local narcotic, suffering from a diet of yams and regularly accused of being a divine emissary of the Duke, Baylis uncovered a religion unlike any other on the planet. Self-deprecating, hilarious and enlightening, “Man Belong Mrs Queen” is travel writing at its horizon-expanding best.

Lyttelton Road Tunnel – 50th anniversary

Today is the anniversary of the opening of the Lyttelton Road Tunnel. The tunnel was opened in 1964 and a lot of us probably take its existence for granted. Or – perhaps not,  since the earthquakes. I’ve always felt a bit anxious going through the tunnel (any tunnel) but bear it as the gateway to some really special places.

A tunnel is such a simple idea which can lead to heroic and complicated engineering solutions. Not to mention the bravery of those who construct the tunnel. A reminder of this close to home was the Lake Coleridge tunnelling accident which claimed the life of 3 men in 1925. These photographs record the rescue efforts.

The tunnel complemented the long established Lyttelton Rail Tunnel. Christchurch had a rail tunnel from early colonial times but all sorts of issues prevented a road tunnel from joining it. It is the longest road tunnel in New Zealand and was originally a toll road. This was abolished in 1979.

The Lyttelton Road Tunnel Administration Building at the Heathcote (Christchurch) end of the tunnel was designed by Christchurch architect Peter Beaven. The distinctive building was  demolished in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes.

The building was demolished in early 2013. In May 2013 designs for a replacement building were released.

Are you a regular user of the tunnel? Do you remember its opening?

Motueka and the Tasman area give heart to Christchurch

Central Library Peterborough is hosting a Paper Mache Hearts Exhibition. The hearts were made by the people of Motueka and the Tasman Region for the people of Christchurch on the anniversary of the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The project was the brain child of Julie Clausen, a Christchurch sculptor and artist who moved to Motueka after the earthquake.  Since moving, Julie hadn’t been back to her art – so this project was to help her get back on track and to offer a gift to the people of Christchurch.

Motueka Public Library hosted workshops to make the heart over two consecutive Wednesdays, and included adults and children.

Refresh your spirit, feed your soul

After the summer’s trials of cool weather and lack of rain, my tomatoes are still not ripe and I have had to rescue the wilting hydrangeas on more than one occasion. So where else after this indifferent summer in the garden should I go but to the delights of the Ellerslie Flower Show to refresh my spirit.

Now is the time to remind ourselves that gardening is not all work and no play, but rather a chance to create a place for our own enjoyment. As the summer draws closer to its end we can sit back and take time to enjoy the spoils of our labour.

All that work weeding, staking and deadheading is to create a place of beauty where we can take time to rest and recuperate at the end of a busy week. The Ellerslie garden designers have created plenty of those places that make the spirit soar and imagination take flight.

Every small patch of ground can become an urban utopia for your sensual delight and a little knowledge can go a long way, so I have taken to browsing the library shelves for inspiration for my own little plot. Could my vegetable and herb garden be a visual delight like the potager at the Curator’s House in the Botanic Gardens?

Or my deck showcase hypertufa pots decorated with rescued broken china? Ideas for creative planters, pots and bird baths abound in the landscaping and DIY sections of the library, and give you the practical nous to fulfill your dreams of what might be. Never mind that my herb garden has already had two attempts at redevelopment and the ingredients for hypertufa have been languishing in the garage for several years!

I have found more inspiration in our Zinio online gardening magazines.

Do you have any garden projects planned this autumn? What projects are languishing in your garden shed? Have you tried Zinio magazines yet?

Find out more about the Ellerslie Flower Show and garden resources here and view our flickr photos of previous Ellerslie shows.

Fiction A to Z: picks from our February newsletter

Some picks from our February Fiction A to Z newsletter, including the first novel by Ishmael Beah, who rose to fame following the publication of A Long Way Gone, his memoirs of his life as a boy soldier in Sierra Leone.

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